DETAILED ACTION
Status of Claims
This Office action is in response to the preliminary amendment filed on 05/27/2025. Claims 1-15 are currently pending and are presented for examination.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, which was filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement submitted 05/27/2025 is in compliance with 37 C.F.R. 1.97 and is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 15 is objected to because of the following informality: In claim 15, it seems that the phrase “a coolant” should be changed to “the coolant.” Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitations use a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are: “the thermal management system being configured to manage thermal properties of the at least one electric drive unit and/or the traction battery.” (claim 15)
Because this claim limitation is being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it is being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification (p. 2 ll. 4-10: “According to another aspect of the invention, a thermal management system for an electric vehicle comprises a control valve apparatus according to the previous aspect of the invention. The thermal management system may comprise a battery supply conduit and a battery bypass conduit; wherein the battery bypass control valve may be configured to control the flow of the coolant through the battery supply conduit and/or the battery bypass conduit. The thermal management system may comprise a heat exchanger supply conduit and a heat exchanger bypass conduit; wherein the heat exchanger bypass control valve is configured to control the proportion of the coolant that flows through the heat exchanger supply conduit and/or the heat exchanger bypass conduit.”) as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have these limitations interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitations to avoid them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitations recite sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-2 and 10-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tiemeyer (US 2023/0123676 A1) in view of Durrani et al. (US 11,407,275 B2), hereinafter referred to as Durrani.
Regarding claim 1:
Tiemeyer discloses the following limitations:
“A control valve apparatus for controlling circulation of a coolant in an electric vehicle thermal management system; the control valve apparatus comprising: a battery bypass control valve configured to control flow of the coolant through a battery supply conduit and/or a battery bypass conduit.” (Tiemeyer ¶ 28: “the battery circuit 8 and the drive circuit 14 are each operable with an unspecified coolant and can be connected or separated by means of at least one actuatable coolant valve 18 for transfer of coolant.”)
“a heat exchanger bypass control valve configured to control flow of the coolant through a heat exchanger supply conduit and/or a heat exchanger bypass conduit.” (Tiemeyer ¶ 30: “The heat exchange device 24 comprises two refrigerant valves 26, 28 and a heat exchanger 30, wherein depending on an actuation of the refrigerant valves 26, 28 by means of the control unit 4, the heat exchanger 30 can be flowed through by refrigerant or not.”)
“and an actuator configured to actuate the battery … control valve and the heat exchanger bypass control valve.” (Tiemeyer ¶ 53: “The actuation of the coolant valve 18 and/or the heat exchange device 24 and/or the refrigerant valves 26, 28 and/or the coolant pumps 13, 23, 46 actuatable by means of the control 4 in one of said coolant circuits 8, 14, 44 for conveying the coolant in this coolant circuit 8, 14, 44 is carried out depending on the vehicle state of the electric vehicle and/or the driving state of the electric vehicle and/or at least one ambient condition of the free environment.”)
Tiemeyer does not explicitly disclose that the battery control valve is a “bypass” control valve to bypass the battery. However, Durrani does teach this limitation. (Durrani col. 5 ll. 40-43: “In the power train coolant circulation a further bypass is advantageously disposed in parallel with the battery cooler via which the battery cooler in the circulation can be circumvented.”)
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the system of Tiemeyer by allowing the battery control valve to be actuated to allow the coolant to bypass the battery as taught by Durrani with a reasonable expectation of success. A person having ordinary skill in the art could have been motivated to do this since Durrani col. 5 ll. 44-50 teach that this modification “enables connection configuring and operating the power train coolant circulation in two subcirculations that are operable separately and independently of one another.” A person having ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that providing a battery bypass line would allow for keeping the battery at an optimal temperature while only cooling it when necessary.
Regarding claim 2:
Tiemeyer in view of Durrani teaches “The control valve apparatus as claimed in claim 1,” and Tiemeyer additionally teaches “wherein the battery bypass control valve comprises a valve operable to control an extent of opening of the battery bypass conduit.” (Tiemeyer ¶ 35: “The aforementioned coolant valve 18 and/or the aforementioned refrigerant valves 26, 28 and/or valves 40, 42 may be formed and actuatable by means of the control unit 4 such that the respective valve 18, 26, 28, 40, 42 does not merely block or release a coolant line of one of the coolant circuits 8, 14, 44 or a refrigerant line of the refrigerant circuit 16, but rather, it may also be provided that at least one of the aforementioned valves 18, 26, 28, 40, 42 partially blocks or opens the corresponding coolant line or refrigerant line, so that the coolant or refrigerant flowing in this coolant line or refrigerant line flows with a reduced volume flow, i.e., is throttled.” Note that while Tiemeyer does not explicitly disclose that the battery control valve is a battery “bypass” valve, this limitation is taught by Durrani as explained regarding claim 1 above.)
Regarding claim 10:
Tiemeyer in view of Durrani teaches “The control valve apparatus as claimed in claim 1,” and Tiemeyer also teaches the control valve apparatus “further comprising at least one crossflow valve configured selectively to control a connection between at least a first coolant circulation loop, a second coolant circulation loop and a third coolant circulation loop, one of the coolant circulation loops comprising a battery and another of the coolant circulation loops comprising an electric drive unit.” (Tiemeyer ¶ 28 and FIG. 1: “The thermal management system 2 for the electric vehicle comprises a control unit 4, a battery circuit 8 connected for heat transfer to a drive battery 6 of the electric vehicle, a drive circuit 14 connected for heat transfer to an electric drive 10 of the electric vehicle and power electronics 12 for the electric drive 10, and an air conditioning circuit 16 connected for heat transfer to an unspecified vehicle interior of the electric vehicle, wherein one the one hand, the battery circuit 8 and the drive circuit 14 are each operable with an unspecified coolant and can be connected or separated by means of at least one actuatable coolant valve 18 for transfer of coolant and on the other hand, the air conditioning circuit 16 is operated with a refrigerant different from the coolant.” Also, Tiemeyer ¶ 42: “Taking into account all conceivable vehicle states, driving states and ambient conditions there is a large number of conceivable connections and separations, i.e., operating modes of the thermal management system 2, between the battery circuit 8, the drive circuit 14 and the air conditioning circuit 16.”)
Regarding claim 11:
Tiemeyer in view of Durrani teaches “the control valve apparatus according to claim 1,” and Tiemeyer also teaches “A thermal management system for an electric vehicle comprising” such a control valve. (Tiemeyer ¶ 2: “The present invention relates to a thermal management system for an electric vehicle.”)
Regarding claim 12:
Tiemeyer in view of Durrani teaches “The thermal management system as claimed in claim 11,” and Durrani additionally teaches the thermal management system “further comprising a battery supply conduit and a battery bypass conduit; wherein the battery bypass control valve is configured to control the flow of the coolant through the battery supply conduit and/or the battery bypass conduit.” (Durrani col. 10 l. 59-col. 11 l. 35 and FIG. 3: “The first subcirculation, the battery cooling circulation, is connection configured with the chiller 12, the 3-way valve 26 toward the bypass 30 across the 3-way valve 24 to the battery cooler 25 and across the coolant pump 22 back to the chiller 12.”)
Regarding claim 13:
Tiemeyer in view of Durrani teaches “The thermal management system as claimed in claim 11,” and Tiemeyer additionally teaches the system “further comprising a heat exchanger supply conduit and a heat exchanger bypass conduit; wherein the heat exchanger bypass control valve is configured to control a proportion of the coolant that flows through the heat exchanger supply conduit and/or the heat exchanger bypass conduit.” (Tiemeyer ¶¶ 34-35: “the thermal management system 2 comprises, in the air conditioning circuit 16, a bypass device 54 having a bypass line 56 and two actuatable bypass valves, wherein the refrigerant valves 26, 28 are formed here as the bypass valves. By means of the bypass device 54, the heat exchanger 30 arranged in the air conditioning circuit 16 can be flowed through or not in the desired manner depending on an actuation of the coolant valves 26, 28 by means of the control unit 4. The aforementioned coolant valve 18 and/or the aforementioned refrigerant valves 26, 28 and/or valves 40, 42 may be formed and actuatable by means of the control unit 4 such that the respective valve 18, 26, 28, 40, 42 does not merely block or release a coolant line of one of the coolant circuits 8, 14, 44 or a refrigerant line of the refrigerant circuit 16, but rather, it may also be provided that at least one of the aforementioned valves 18, 26, 28, 40, 42 partially blocks or opens the corresponding coolant line or refrigerant line, so that the coolant or refrigerant flowing in this coolant line or refrigerant line flows with a reduced volume flow, i.e., is throttled.”)
Regarding claim 14:
Tiemeyer in view of Durrani teaches “the control valve apparatus according to claim 1,” and Tiemeyer also teaches “An electric vehicle comprising” such a control valve. (Tiemeyer ¶ 2: “The present invention relates to a thermal management system for an electric vehicle.”)
Regarding claim 15:
Tiemeyer in view of Durrani teaches “The electric vehicle as claimed in claim 14,” and Tiemeyer also teaches the following limitations:
“further comprising at least one electric drive unit.” (Tiemeyer ¶ 6: “this object is achieved by a method for operating a thermal management system for an electric vehicle. In particular, the electric vehicle may be a motor vehicle used for road traffic. Furthermore, the electric vehicle is freely selectable within wide suitable limits and may, for example, be designed as a vehicle only having an electric drive or as a vehicle having a so-called hybrid drive, i.e., an electric drive and a combustion engine.”)
“a traction battery and a thermal management system.” (Tiemeyer ¶ 28: “The thermal management system 2 for the electric vehicle comprises a control unit 4, a battery circuit 8 connected for heat transfer to a drive battery 6 of the electric vehicle…”)
“the thermal management system being configured to manage thermal properties of the at least one electric drive unit and/or the traction battery; the control valve apparatus being configured to control circulation of a coolant in the thermal management system.” (Tiemeyer ¶ 30: “Between the battery circuit 8 and/or the drive circuit 14 on the one hand, and the air conditioning circuit 16 on the other hand, a heat transfer connection can be established or separated by means of at least one heat exchange device 24 of the thermal management system 2 depending on an actuation of the coolant valve 18 and an actuation of the heat exchange device 24 by means of the control unit 4.”)
Claims 3-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tiemeyer in view of Durrani as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Gibson et al. (WO 2015/155528 A1), hereinafter referred to as Gibson.
Regarding claim 3:
Tiemeyer in view of Durrani teaches “The control valve apparatus as claimed in claim 1,” but does not explicitly disclose “wherein the battery bypass control valve comprises a first rotary drive member rotatable to actuate the battery bypass control valve.” However, Gibson does teach this limitation. (Gibson p. 9 ll. 10-15 and FIG. 1 reproduced below: “The body 11 includes an integrally cast arm 20 to which is attached a rotary actuator 21. The rotary actuator 21 may be of any desirable kind (electric, pneumatic or hydraulic) and provides a back and forth rotational output via a spindle 22. A linkage 23 connects the actuator spindle 22 to the valve spindles 16, 17.” Note that while Gibson does not explicitly teach either of the valves being related to “battery bypass control,” this limitation is taught by the combination of Tiemeyer and Durrani as explained regarding claim 1 above.)
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Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the system that is disclosed by the combination of Tiemeyer and Durrani by incorporating a rotary drive member to actuate the battery bypass control valve as taught by Gibson, because this is a combination of prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results (see MPEP 2143(I)(A)). Gibson p. 1 ll. 8-13 explain that the use of rotary actuators for actuating valves is known in the art. Using a rotary actuator to actuate a valve would have predictably functioned similarly whether done within the dual valve actuator system of Gibson or whether integrated into the electric vehicle thermal management system disclosed by the combination of Tiemeyer and Durrani.
Regarding claim 4:
The combination of Tiemeyer, Durrani, and Gibson teaches “The control valve apparatus as claimed in claim 3,” and Tiemeyer also teaches “to provide proportional control of flow of the coolant through the heat exchanger bypass conduit.” (Tiemeyer ¶ 35: “The aforementioned coolant valve 18 and/or the aforementioned refrigerant valves 26, 28 and/or valves 40, 42 may be formed and actuatable by means of the control unit 4 such that the respective valve 18, 26, 28, 40, 42 does not merely block or release a coolant line of one of the coolant circuits 8, 14, 44 or a refrigerant line of the refrigerant circuit 16, but rather, it may also be provided that at least one of the aforementioned valves 18, 26, 28, 40, 42 partially blocks or opens the corresponding coolant line or refrigerant line, so that the coolant or refrigerant flowing in this coolant line or refrigerant line flows with a reduced volume flow, i.e., is throttled.”)
The combination of Tiemeyer and Durrani does not specifically teach “wherein the first rotary drive member comprises a rotatable shaft which is rotatable to actuate the heat exchanger bypass control valve to provide … control of flow of the coolant through the heat exchanger bypass conduit.” However, Gibson does teach this limitation. (Gibson p. 9 ll. 10-15 and FIG. 1: “The body could also be adapted for direct mounting to other apparatus defining fluid ducts, for example to an exhaust manifold of an internal combustion engine, a waste heat recovery unit or the like. The body 11 includes an integrally cast arm 20 to which is attached a rotary actuator 21. The rotary actuator 21 may be of any desirable kind (electric, pneumatic or hydraulic) and provides a back and forth rotational output via a spindle 22. A linkage 23 connects the actuator spindle 22 to the valve spindles 16, 17.”)
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the system that is disclosed by the combination of Tiemeyer and Durrani by incorporating a rotary drive member to actuate the heat exchanger bypass control valve as taught by Gibson, because this is a combination of prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results (see MPEP 2143(I)(A)). Gibson p. 1 ll. 8-13 explain that the use of rotary actuators for actuating valves is known in the art. Using a rotary actuator to actuate a valve would have predictably functioned similarly whether done within the dual valve actuator system of Gibson or whether integrated into the electric vehicle thermal management system disclosed by the combination of Tiemeyer and Durrani.
Regarding claim 5:
The combination of Tiemeyer, Durrani, and Gibson teaches “The control valve apparatus as claimed in claim 4,” and Gibson also teaches “wherein the first rotary drive member is formed integrally with the heat exchanger bypass control valve and the battery bypass control valve.” (Gibson p. 9 ll. 10-15 and FIG. 1: “The rotary actuator 21 may be of any desirable kind (electric, pneumatic or hydraulic) and provides a back and forth rotational output via a spindle 22. A linkage 23 connects the actuator spindle 22 to the valve spindles 16, 17.” Note that while Gibson does not explicitly teach the valves being related to “battery bypass control” and “heat exchanger bypass control,” this limitation is taught by Tiemeyer in view of Durrani as explained regarding claim 1 above.)
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the system that is disclosed by the combination of Tiemeyer and Durrani by allowing the battery bypass control valve and the heat exchanger bypass control valve to both be coupled to a rotary drive member as is taught by Gibson with a reasonable expectation of success. A person having ordinary skill in the art could have been motivated to do this because Gibson p. 1 l. 15-p. 2 l. 11 teach that this provides a low-cost solution to ensure that the valves can each close simultaneously, which provides a benefit over individual actuators because, “Whilst an individual actuator could be provided for each duct, it cannot be ensured that such actuators will act simultaneously because of, for example, manufacturing differences, non-linear deterioration of performance, differential friction and like phenomena.”
Regarding claim 6:
The combination of Tiemeyer, Durrani, and Gibson teaches “The control valve apparatus as claimed in claim 3,” and Tiemeyer also teaches “wherein the heat exchanger bypass control valve is a three-way valve.” (Tiemeyer ¶ 30: “The refrigerant valves 26, 28 are each designed here as a 3/2-way valve.”)
Regarding claim 7:
The combination of Tiemeyer, Durrani, and Gibson teaches “The control valve apparatus as claimed in claim 3,” and Gibson further teaches “wherein the battery bypass control valve is configured to close the battery bypass conduit when the actuator is in a first angular range; and the bypass control valve is configured to open the battery bypass conduit when the actuator is in a second angular range.” (Gibson p. 13 l. 18-31 and FIGS. 15-17C: “In Fig. 15 a rotary actuator has an output arm 24a situated between operating arms 26, 27 of the respective valve discs 14, 15. The pivot pin 25a is coupled to each arm 24a, 26, 27 by a respective swivel joint so that articulation is possible within an angular range permitted by the dimensions selected; the angular range may for example be up to 15° from the orthogonal axis. … The arrangement of Figs. 15-17 allows closure of both valve discs 14, 15 regardless of which disc first reaches the fully closed condition.” Although Gibson does not explicitly mention angular ranges, it can be seen from the figures that the valve discs 14 and 15 are opened or closed depending on the angle of the rotary actuator. Note that while Gibson does not specifically teach one of the valves being a “battery bypass” control valve, this limitation is taught by the combination of Tiemeyer and Durrani as explained regarding claim 1 above.)
Regarding claim 8:
The combination of Tiemeyer, Durrani, and Gibson teaches “The control valve apparatus as claimed in claim 7,” and Gibson further teaches “wherein rotation of the actuator in a first direction in the first angular range progressively increases a proportion of the coolant passing through the heat exchanger bypass conduit.” (Gibson p. 14 ll. 4-6 and FIGS. 15-17C: “If valve disc 15 reaches the fully closed condition before valve disc 14, continued pivoting of the arm 24a is permitted, and the pivot pin axis 62 inclines progressively until valve disc 14 is fully closed.” Also, Gibson p. 11 ll. 8-11: “Inward movement of the ram 43 (as illustrated by arrow 44) moves the valve discs 14, 15 in the closing direction, and complete closure of the valve discs is assured by relative motion of the link 30 and lever 29, as previously described. Outward movement of the ram 43 moves the valve discs 14, 15 in the opening direction.” Therefore, movement in the “opening direction” would progressively open the valve disc and would progressively increase a proportion of coolant passing through the conduit. Note that while Gibson does not specifically teach the conduit being a “heat exchanger bypass” conduit, this limitation is taught by the combination of Tiemeyer and Durrani as explained regarding claim 1 above.)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 9 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Madison R Inserra whose telephone number is (571)272-7205. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday: 9:30 AM - 6:30 PM EST.
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/Madison R. Inserra/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3662
